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Culture news

René de Obaldia: 'Oldest guardian of the French language' dies at 103

Fellow novelists, playwrights, and members of the Académie Française have come together to express their grief at the loss of one of the country's most revered voices.

Culture news

Wordle spoilers: Twitter suspends bot account for revealing answers

The account was found to violate the platform's policy by "annoying" users struggling to overcome the daily word game by non-consensually sending them the right answer.

Culture news

Ladino: Meet the guardian of a Jewish language close to extinction

A hundred years ago it was the most spoken language in Thessaloniki. Now, Jacky Benmayor is the only speaker left. And he's on a mission.

Destinations

Only speak English? You’ll get by easily in these European countries

If languages aren't your strong point, the English Proficiency Index has ranked the best places in Europe for English speakers.

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Travel News

1500 languages could be lost by the end of the century, says new study

What does that mean for Indigenous populations around the world?

Culture news

What are the most mispronounced words of 2021?

Newsreaders have stumbled over these words, but where do the biggest tongue-twisters of 2021 come from?

Culture news

What is the Bouba/Kiki effect and what does it mean for language?

Researchers have conducted an experiment on 900 people which shows intercultural connections between 25 different languages. This could be a breakthrough in the fields of linguistics and philology.

Travel News

These 9 words don’t exist in English but you’ll wish they did

Words can tell you a lot about a culture and these are some of the best and most unique.

Climate

Why calling extreme climate events ‘natural’ disasters is wrong

The release of the IPCC report on climate change prompted this campaign group to call for an end to ‘natural disaster’ terminology.

Travel News

This ‘smart’ facemask can translate what you say into 8 languages

A Japanese robotics company has invented a face mask that can translate across languages. We also take a look at other interesting pandemic innovations.

My Europe Series

Why some Czechs are up in arms ova plans to drop feminised surnames

Why some Czechs are up in arms ova plans to drop feminised surnames

Travel News

The tiny European villages where they speak their own unique language

From Livonian to Griko, discover these European villages where people speak another language from everyone around them.

Travel News

Power of a placename: Ireland’s many Yr Wyddfas

Towns with names like Youghal and Dún Laoghaire have confused tourists in Ireland for years. Why are Ireland's placenames so confusing for English speakers?

Europe News

EU's top court holds its first hearing in Irish

Historic! It is the first case to be heard in Irish at the European Court of Justice for nearly 50 years.

The Cube

Will English remain an official EU language after Brexit?

The European Commission has stated that any decision on this would need the support of a unanimous vote in the European Parliament.

Europe News

EU lawmakers debate rights and protections of ethnic minorities

MEPs discussed the topics of minority languages and cultures that are spread out across the continent.

World

How are translations between English and Arabic helping to tackle misinformation?

Iraqi students from the University of Mosul are on a mission to share English content with their peers in Arabic.

United Kingdom

Scottish islands to teach every school pupil in Gaelic

A ‘Gaelic First’ policy has been introduced to help boost the language in the Outer Hebrides where it is spoken by 52% of residents.

France

Quelle horreur! 'Franglais' is a threat to French, academy says

L'Academie Francaise said it is 'seriously concerned' at mixing French with English — a common phenomenon in an age of social media and global marketing.

Italy

Watch: Giant dictionary highlights Italian words at risk of disappeari

Words people have declared they would save include 'caspita' (golly) and 'perdinci' (by jingo).